Customer and designer perspective on IPS2 - an iterative workflow to provide customized solutions

Industrial Product-Service Systems (PSS, IPS2) are supposed to provide added value by integrating products and services in one package or solution. Customer and lifecycle orientation are basic principles which drive PSS planning, development and delivery approaches. PSS put an emphasis on providing individualized solutions to customer problems. From a huge set of possible solutions, a solution needs to be chosen, which is economically feasible for customers and providers alike. However, differentiating customer needs, requirements and possible solution concepts is tricky and the choice of the proper business model difficult. Finally, an economic perspective needs to be combined with a technical perspective. In this article we introduce two PSS planning methods, namely the PSS Compass and the PSS Layer Method, which are integrated in one conceptual, iterative workflow. The PSS Layer Method is proposed for the generation and refinement of the PSS ideas and general concepts. It supports the engineering tasks and helps to clarify whether an idea is technically relevant or not. The amount of technically possible solutions is reduced further by excluding the PSS alternatives, which do not match economic feasibility criteria from the customer and provider point of view. To do so, the use of a PSS Compass is proposed. It captures customers main choice criteria and indicates their preferences for solutions alongside two PSS dimensions (make or buy & manual or automatic process execution). Therefore, this compass supports the economic view on PSS solutions.